Bring me the Thunder
Chapter One: The First Events
It all started on a rather miserable night in the USA, with two girls…Adelaide Brown and Blythe Constance.
Both of British origin, both orphaned and homeless, neither having met each other before.
Both with different personalities and one of them with something that the other did not have.
Each met a different god…
…and each took a different path to their destiny.
Now, you must understand that nobody is ever born evil. Nobody is born to be a beacon of justice, either. The paths one chooses to take will guide you towards your destiny. The same thing applied to Adelaide and Blythe. But one of them was to become severely misguided…
On that particular night the two girls were on opposite sides of the country. One to the west, one to the east. Both alone. All alone. Completely and utterly alone when the storm descended.
Adelaide was sitting on a hilltop when it happened. She lived up there. She had no house, no family to go to and she made a living out among the hills. She loved it there. The air atop the hills was so much fresher. It was normally quiet. It gave Adelaide the opportunity to think to herself. This night, however, the hilltop was not tranquil as it usually was. Adelaide took in a deep breath and frowned. There seemed to be some sense of foreboding on the breeze. The air felt damp somehow. That was usually a sign for a storm. Adelaide grinned to herself. Nothing like a good storm to liven up the night.
You would probably think that a girl like Adelaide would hate storms. But she loved them. After all, she had been struck by lightning exactly a year ago and survived without so much as a single scar. So she had learned to look upon storms as a kind of blessing instead of an omen.
Looking up, Adelaide saw storm clouds swirling and gathering at seemingly impossible speed high above her, shading the stars from view and making the air turn cold. This aspect of the storm surprised Adelaide. Surely it was impossible for a storm to come so fast?
"What on Earth…" Adelaide muttered, standing up, her eyes seemingly locked on the swirling storm clouds. This was certainly not normal…
THAT was then that the storm really started to pick up. The stars were all covered by the eerie clouds and now rain was beginning to fall. The breeze was picking up, too. It whipped a lock of Adelaide's hair across her face and she flicked it back out of her face with a finger. Then she jumped as there came an almighty crash of thunder, accompanied by a terrifically bright flash of lightning. The sound and light came at the exact same instant. That proved that Adelaide was right in the middle of this storm. It was what happened next that truly shocked the girl.
There came several more flashes of lightning and crashes of thunder high above Adelaide, and the breeze quickly gained the strength of a gale. Struggling to stand, Adelaide looked up at the sky with an eerie sense of expectance. Something was going to happen, or so she felt. She was right. Just as she was considering running for cover, there came the loudest burst of thunder and the brightest flash of light Adelaide had ever seen. She had to close her eyes and clamp her hands over her ears to shield herself from the intensity of whatever it was. But when she opened her eyes again she was shocked to find the swirling storm clouds dispersing at an extraordinarily rapid pace, and even more shocking were the streaks of light shooting out from the centre of the storm. They looked a little like shooting stars. But were they REALLY shooting stars?
One shot far off into the distance and disappeared from sight. The other zoomed high above Adelaide's head and then suddenly dropped. There came a colossal sound of impact and a shockwave that blew Adelaide right off her feet. Turning around, scrambling to her feet, she saw much to her shock that whatever it was had slammed into the ground in the woods just at the bottom of the hill. In fact, whatever it was, it had struck the ground with such force that it had created a small crater. Curiosity taking over, Adelaide started running down the hill, trying not to trip over her own feet as she gained speed down the hill. She simply HAD to find out what it was.
…
"What the hell is this?" Adelaide muttered to herself. She had reached the woods and was slowly advancing to where the mysterious object she had seen in the sky had crashed. She was approaching the impact site. Trees had been damaged by the shockwave released upon the object's sudden impact, and some were even flattened to the woodland ground. What on Earth could do this?
Then Adelaide came to the edge of the crater. It was odd, because a mist hung around it, defying the night's weather that had suddenly calmed since the sudden and brief storm. Adelaide could not see the centre of the crater through the mysterious mist, but she knew a mystery greater than anything she could have ever imagined was right there. She could feel some greater force calling to her. She HAD to see what it was.
There was only one way to find out was there. Adelaide had to investigate.
Adelaide started sliding down the crater. She didn't care if the mud got on her clothes. She had gotten used to that after two years of homelessness.
Upon reaching the bottom, which only took a second or two, Adelaide found that the ground was baked almost as hard as glass. Almost as if some great bolt of lightning had struck it. Fear beginning to creep into her mind, she slowly walked into the very centre of the crater. The mist still swirled eerily. But the breeze began to pick up again, starting to clear it. Adelaide blinked a few times and then shivered, the bitter cold biting at her skin.
"Maybe this was a bad idea…" she whispered to herself. "Maybe I shouldn't be here. Maybe I…" She trailed off into complete silence as she heard something. It sounded like a painful groan from somewhere nearby. After a moment or two Adelaide did not hear it again, so she concluded that she must have imagined it. That is, until she heard it again, and then the slightest sound of movement. Adelaide was not alone in the crater…
"Hello?" Adelaide called out, shakily. "Is someone there? Hello?" The mist had almost entirely disappeared by this point, but the bitter cold remained. Adelaide looked about…and then gasped in shock. She saw someone kneeling on the ground not far away, clad in some sort of armour. It was obvious that they were in a very bad way.
"Oh my gosh!" Adelaide cried. Immediately she hurried over to them and for the first time noticed the hammer of some sort lying a few feet away. Who exactly WAS this? "Sir, are you alright?" The man, whoever they were, attempted to stand but stumbled. Adelaide was only a girl, and not the strongest human being of all, but she tried to help them anyway, stepping in to hold the person up.
"Thanks…" the stranger said, somewhat weakly.
"What happened to you, sir?" Adelaide asked them.
"Got into a fight." the stranger replied, simply. Adelaide was confused.
"But…you fell from the SKY." she said, with a slightly audible tone of disbelief. "How could something like that happen?" The stranger, whoever they were, did not reply. Adelaide decided she needed to help them, so she helped them to sit down on the baked-hard ground of the crater and she turned.
"I'll be back in a moment, sir." Adelaide said. "I've got something that can help you." Quickly Adelaide ran up the sides of the crater and into the woods nearby. As it happened, nearby was her stash of supplies she had in case of emergencies. She had several of these places where she hid various items. The closest one contained an elixir that Adelaide herself had made up from various herbal substances.
Adelaide skidded to a halt in front of a large tree that was standing almost stubbornly in place amongst the destruction around it. Adelaide then knelt down and slipped her hand inside a hollow in the tree trunk, fishing around inside and pulling out two vials of emerald green liquid. She had made the liquid out of herbs that grew around the woods of the area, and found that it had extraordinary healing properties. Just what the injured stranger needed.
Hurrying back the way she had come, she skidded down the sides of the crater and found the stranger where she had left them. They were breathing heavily and evidently deteriorating in condition. Adelaide set to work immediately. She knelt down in front of them.
"Here, drink this elixir." she told them, gently. "It should help. I know it helps me when I'm hurt." The stranger looked at her and then at the vial of liquid in Adelaide's hand. They accepted it and took the stopper out, swallowing the liquid in one gulp. They grimaced at the taste.
"Sorry, it might taste a little bitter." Adelaide apologised. "It is herbal, after all." For a few moments, the stranger sat in silence, the vial falling from their hand. Then they tossed their head back and gave a sound that was half way between a choke and a gasp. Then they sat with their heads hunched forward, breathing heavily. The stranger looked up at Adelaide.
"I…I can feel it working." they said in a voice stronger than before. They managed to get to their feet without falling. It was stunning how fast their recovery was happening. Adelaide was proud that her herbal elixir worked so well.
"You should be perfectly fine in a moment or two." she said, smiling. The man looked at her.
"That elixir of yours…it has miraculous properties." he said. "I…I…I had no clue that humans could make such substances." Adelaide frowned.
"Humans? What do you mean?" she asked. "You're just as human as I am…aren't you?" The stranger looked at her and seemed to study her for a moment or two, looking her up and down. Then they grinned.
"No. I am not human." they said. "I am Thor."
"What do you mean?" Adelaide asked. As if in manner of response, the stranger stretched out a hand towards the hammer lying on the ground a few feet away. As Adelaide watched in amazement, the hammer flew into Thor's hand.
"Wow. That's impressive…" Adelaide muttered. "So…wait, I thought Thor was the God of Thunder? But that would mean…" She trailed off as the truth hit her, and Thor nodded.
"Oh my…" Adelaide gasped. "So, the storm clouds…that was YOU?" Thor nodded.
"Yes." they replied.
"But…you said you got into a fight. With whom, might I ask?" Adelaide asked.
"My brother, Loki." Thor replied. "He is someone consumed by evil and who must be stopped before it is too late to save this world."
"Wow…" Adelaide mumbled. "That's…shocking. So was he the one who fell out of the other side of that flash of light?" Thor almost flinched at this.
"Which way?" he asked, urgently. Adelaide pointed in the direction of the other 'shooting star' she had seen earlier.
"Went that way, ended up far off into the distance. Didn't see where it landed, though." she said. "Thought it was a meteor or something. Thought what crashed HERE was going to be a meteor until I found you." Thor appeared to consider this before walking past her, hammer clutched tightly in his hand.
"Where are you going?" Adelaide asked them. Thor stopped and turned to her.
"I have to find Loki." he said. "He has to be stopped before he conquers this world."
"Ah, alright then." Adelaide said, nodding. "Bye, then." Thor seemed about to turn when a thought struck him, or appeared to, and he looked back at Adelaide.
"What is your name, human?" he asked her.
"Adelaide Brown." Adelaide replied. Thor nodded.
"Adelaide, I must admit that I am in debt to you." He said. "Without your assistance I would still be injured. Thanks to you I can still go on to find Loki."
"Um…you're welcome?" Adelaide said, uncertainly.
"I must always repay my debts." Thor went on. "Therefore, I promise you, should you ever need my assistance I would be glad to help you. I mean it. All you have to do, Adelaide, is ask." He turned and started to walk away.
"But how will I find you?" Adelaide asked.
"Send up a prayer." Thor said, and although Adelaide did not see this, he grinned. "I'll hear it." He then began wielding his bizarre hammer in a bizarre but skilful fashion, before shooting up into the sky and disappearing without a trace. Adelaide blinked a few times. Had that REALLY just happened? Yes, Adelaide thought. It was all too real to be a dream. But if it was real, then that meant that she really had just met a god…wow.
So that was how it was, when Adelaide met Thor, God of Thunder. Little did she know what was going on a long distance away, on the other side of the country…
…where Blythe Constance was about to meet some VERY bad company…